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Dan the Man

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  1. Dan the Man
    I think this is the "Willow Waterhole", a large detention pond that was built shortly after Tropical Storm Allison. It is part of the massive project to help minimize flooding in the neighborhoods along Brays Bayou.
  2. Dan the Man
    There is a state law that requires all cemetaries to have access to a public ROW. Though the access easement exists, I imagine that it is not easily navigable, given the overgrown nature of the place.
  3. Dan the Man
    I heard that the last owner of the house was slowly restoring the house to its 1939 appearance, when it appeared in Architectural Digest. UT completely gutted the house shortly after they purchased it in 2001, in order to remove asbestos (rarely found in large quantities in pre-WWII residences). I agree, very sad end to this beautiful home. It is a shame that Houston is still losing the large homes that line the MacGregor Parkway. I was very distraught when that church on North MacGregor demolished that beautiful Mott house, along with two neighboring houses in 2001. The building that is now on the site is out of scale with the neighborhood and very poorly detailed on the exterior.
  4. Dan the Man
    This happened several years ago, and I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but I think the basic story was this: The city did not develop this part of the park for its intended purpose. A clause in the original contract allowed ownership of the land to revert back to the donors, or their heirs, if the city did not develop it. The heirs of the donors were mad that the undeveloped land was not being used to benefit the city, so they attempted to regain ownership of it. It appears that the heirs now own the land, and are selling it.
  5. Dan the Man
    I am all for saving these buildings, but attempting to designate the River Oaks Theater and Bookstop as Protected Landmarks is a tremendous waste of time and energy. The buildings cannot be fully designated without the consent of Weingarten, who is obviously going to refuse or just ignore the issue. If anything, this will serve to anger Weingarten, who may then decide to demolish the buildings out of spite.
  6. Dan the Man
    I assume you are talking about that boarded-up brick house that has been painted grey (see attached picture). I think the address is 3222 Oakmont. It looks like someone started to renovate it, but stopped several years ago. (Result of flooding during Allison?) The house has had some foundation work done, and it has a relatively new roof. Hopefully someone will finish the renovation and restore it to its original glory. Despite the missing entry pediment and bricked-up window openings, the house still looks very elegant. Some of the brickwork is awesome, and I especially like the porthole windows on the carriage house. Any ideas on the architect? My preliminary guess would be John Staub, but this house is not in the Barnstone book. P.S. There is a cool Art Deco house next door to this one.
  7. Dan the Man
    The front facade of this building reminds me of a Dillards department store.
  8. Dan the Man
    Me too. I'm sorry to see it go. It would look a lot better if they would remove those fabric awnings. I wonder how high the floor-to-floor heights are inside? It might make a cool rehab into lofts. By the way, I fail to see how the Sonoma Wine Country image has anything to do with the Village, or Houston, or Texas, for that matter. Though, the California imagery is indirectly related it to the hideous house that is being constructed down the street from me. I'm calling it the "Anorexic Hacienda." It shocks me that people that people find this crap attractive, and that they actually pay money for it!
  9. Dan the Man
    I really cannot get excited about this project. Traffic and parking are already ridiculous in the Village. Also, as in many of Randall Davis's other developments, the architecture is cheesy to the point of being downright ugly. The development will definitely put another nail in the coffin of the Village's unique character, but it will probably be financially successful - the sole virtue to which all Houston commercial buildings aspire.
  10. Dan the Man
    Where is Mr. Finger now? By the way, does anyone on here know anything about the Weingarten House that he designed? It is one of my favorite old homes in the Riverside Terrace area. I would love to find the plans, or at least some old photos of the interior, as I cannot discern its interior layout, since it is difficult to see all 4 sides of the house from the street.
  11. Dan the Man
    3904 S. MacGregor - The owner should be thrown in prison for what they did to this house. I always look away when I drive by it.
  12. Dan the Man
    I've always been intrigued by that house. If I remember correctly, there is a piece of cubist sculpture incorporated into the brickwork near the front entrance. I'm sure the house flooded during Allison, possibly the reason for the stalled renovation?
  13. Dan the Man
    Sorry about the pictures. They load just fine on my computer, so I'm a little confused. I used the "insert image" button in the reply window and inserted the URL like it asked me to. Do I need to do something special, like change http to https? Please advise. Anyway, here are the links to the photos if you are still having trouble seeing them: http://www.houstoncountryclubplace.netfirm...os/driveway.jpg http://www.houstoncountryclubplace.netfirm.../gardenpath.jpg http://www.houstoncountryclubplace.netfirm...tos/mansion.jpg http://www.houstoncountryclubplace.netfirm...tos/stables.jpg http://www.houstoncountryclubplace.netfirm...Photos/pond.jpg http://www.houstoncountryclubplace.netfirm...ouseandpool.jpg
  14. Dan the Man
    Some photos from the website of the Country Club Place Civic Club: North Entrance Gates on Wayside Driveway to House Garden Path Mansion from Gardens Stables Pond Playhouse & Swimming Pool
  15. Dan the Man
    I would like to see the golf course revitalized with better landscaping, a new clubhouse, and a more attractive fence. That golf course is one of that East End's best assets - it is an attractive, quiet greenspace that serves to lessen the chaotic nature of the city around it, while also serving as a reminder of the area's history. As the East End gentrifies, I'm sure that the course will see a lot more use by the new local residents, especially with upgrades. Look at Herman Park as an example; that course was also seeing dwindling usage, so the city revitalized it. Now, it is used quite heavily. Replacing the Gus Wortham golf course with soccer fields will only bring more people, traffic, and noise to the East End. None of these are seen as desirable to the area, and they could be enough to thwart the revitalization effort that has already begun in Idylwood and Country Club Place. I wouldn't even consider buying a house in those neighborhoods if there was a soccer practice facility next door.
  16. Dan the Man
    From the East End article in the Winter 2006 Issue of Cite: "At about the same time that the Forest Hill subdivision was still seen as a good idea, Colonel Edward F. Simms, a Kentuckian who made his fortune in the oil fields of Texas and Louisiana, settled in Houston. Sometime after 1910 he purchased several tracts of land adjacent to the west side of the Houston Country Club along what would become South Wayside Drive. According to Marguerite Johnston, author of Houston, The Unknown City 1836-1946, '...he built a mansion with a library, living room, dining room, and a breakfast room, on the first floor, a maid's room off the kitchen, a wine cellar and furnace in the basement, and seven bedrooms and five bathrooms on the upper floors, as well as a big upstairs sleeping porch. He built gardens, stables, a green house, reflecting pools, lakes, and one of Houston's first swimming pools - a big one set some distance from the house. The estate required eight gardeners and five house servants to maintain. He called it Wayside' Simms' stucco-clad main house at 900 South Wayside Drive was accessible by a winding gravel drive. Fire insurance company maps, which were last updated in 1969, showed several additional smaller houses, an extensive collection of outbuildings, and an irregularly shaped concrete swimming pool that was designed to look like a pond. Simms' stepdaughter Bessie married architect Kenneth Franzheim, whose office designed many of the important commercial buildings in Houston from the 1930s through the 1950s. During the years that the Franzheims were in residence at Wayside, it was often the scene of prominent social gatherings. In March 1949, for example, during the American Institute of Architects' national convention in Houston, Bessie entertained a delegation of the wives of architects from Cuba and Mexico at the house. At its peak from the 1920s through the 1940s, the Simms estate was one of the largest, most elaborate residential compounds in Houston. Over the years, though, the family sold parcels of the estate, notably the southern sections along Lawndale Avenue, which became the Houston Country Club Place subdivision and the Simms Woods subdivision."
  17. Dan the Man
    This would have been the early 1950s. He said the watermelon stand was near the building that had the ball on top that predicted the weather.
  18. Dan the Man
    My dad said that when he was a little kid in West University, the family would occasionally go visit relatives in the East End. Since there was no Southwest Freeway yet, they would drive through Midtown to get to the East End. He said that somewhere in the Midtown area, he remembers a place that consisted of a bunch of picnic tables in a vacant lot, where people could stop and buy fresh watermelon to eat. He said that it was only open during the summer, and the family would stop there frequently. My grandfather loved the place, and he would always stop there when he went to do his banking downtown. Does anyone else remember this place? I've never heard of it before.
  19. Dan the Man
    I'm not too sorry to see that building go. It always looked really depressing from the Stella Link side.
  20. Dan the Man
    About a year and a half ago, Historic Houston was trying to buy the property for their salvage warehouse and offices. The project was also going to incorporate some HPD and HCC offices. They secured all of the funding, but HISD seemed reluctant. My theory is that HISD feels that they can get more money from someone other than a non-profit. My masters thesis in architecture school was a redevelopment of the site, including the historic school building. It is a difficult piece of property to work with, due to its irregular triangular geometry. The school building is really interesting, and could be easily adapted to a wide variety of uses. Unfortunately, it's really starting to deteriorate, thanks to the inaction of HISD...
  21. Dan the Man
    This is going to be a Wachovia Bank. The blank area on the site plan is currently occupied by an old house.
  22. Dan the Man
    Back to the topic... Historic Houston has posted some fascinating historic photos of the building on their website: www.historichouston.org In regards to the bricks, the demolition guys will let you take some. Just ask.
  23. Dan the Man
    Office dA would be a good choice. I saw Monica Ponce deLeon give a lecture last week; very intelligent woman and truly remarkable stuff!
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